1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic slicing apparatus and an automatic slicing method, each of which is used when making a sliced piece specimen used in a physicochemical experiment, a microscope observation and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sliced piece specimen used in the physicochemical experiment and the microscope observation is one in which a sliced piece whose thickness is several μm (e.g., 3 μm-5 μm) has been fixed onto a base plate such as slide glass. Generally, the sliced piece specimen is made by utilizing a microtome. Here, there is explained about a method of making the sliced piece specimen, which has utilized the microtome.
First, after an organism sample, such as creature and animal which have been formalin-fixed, has been paraffin-substituted, additionally its periphery is solidified by the paraffin, thereby making an embedded block under a block state. Next, this embedded block is set to the microtome that is a slicing apparatus for exclusive use, thereby performing a rough cutting. By this rough cutting, a surface of the embedded block is smoothened, and the embedded organism sample that is an object article of the experiment and the observation is exposed to the surface.
After this rough cutting has finished, a main cutting is performed. This is a process of very thinly slicing the embedded block in the above-mentioned thickness by a cutting blade that the microtome has. By this, it is possible to obtain a sliced piece.
Subsequently, there shifts to an extension process extending the sliced piece having been obtained by the main cutting. In other words, since the sliced piece having been made by the main cutting is one having been sliced in the very thin thickness as having been mentioned above, it becomes a wrinkled state or a rounded state (e.g., like a letter of U). Thereupon, it is necessary to extend the sliced piece by removing the wrinkle or the roundness by the extension process.
Generally, it is extended by utilizing water and hot water. In the beginning, the sliced piece having been obtained by the main cutting is immersed in the water. By this, the large wrinkle or roundness of the sliced piece is removed while preventing a mutual adhesion of the paraffin embedding the organism sample. Thereafter, the sliced piece is immersed in the hot water. By this, since the sliced piece becomes liable to extend, it is possible to remove the remaining wrinkle or roundness, which could not be removed completely by the immersion in the water.
And, the sliced piece having finished the extension by the hot water is scooped up by the base plate such as slide glass, and mounted onto the base plate. Incidentally, at this point of time, in a case where if the extension has been insufficient, a heat is exerted on the sliced piece by being mounted together with the base plate onto a hot plate and the like. By this, it is possible to more extend the sliced piece.
Finally, the base plate on which there has been mounted the sliced piece is put into a drier and dried. By this drying, a moisture having adhered by the extension evaporates, and the sliced piece is fixed onto the base plate. As a result, it is possible to make the sliced piece specimen.
The sliced piece specimen having been made like this is used in the fields of biology and medicine, and the like.
Besides a method of diagnosing a normality/abnormality of tissue from a shape of cell, which has been performed from olden times, in recent years by a development in genome science, there increases a need comprehensively and histologically seeing a manifestation of gene or protein. For this reason, there has become arisen a necessity for efficiently making increasingly more sliced piece specimens. However, since most of the conventional processes having been mentioned above are ones requiring high techniques and experiences, they can be dealt with only by a manual work of skilled worker, so that they have been ones requiring time and effort.
Thereupon, in order to solve the defect like this even a little, there is provided a slicing apparatus automatically performing the rough cutting process and the main cutting process, which are one portions of the above-mentioned processes (for example, JP-A-2004-28910).
This apparatus automatically performs a process of making a sliced piece by cutting an embedded block having been set, a process of carrying the sliced piece, which has been made, by a carrier tape to thereby transcribe it onto a slide glass, and a process of carrying the sliced piece together with the slide glass till an extension device to thereby perform an extension.
According to this apparatus, it is possible to reduce a load of the worker, and an artificial mistake by the worker can be made null as well, so that it is possible to make a good sliced piece specimen.
However, in the above apparatus described in JP-A-2004-28910, the following problems have been left.
That is, although the above-mentioned apparatus is an apparatus which can automatically make the sliced piece from the embedded block having been previously set, and can fix the sliced piece onto the slide glass under a state in which its extension has been finished, when operating the apparatus there are changes in conditions, which cannot be predicted, such as a situation of pretreatment with respect to the organism sample, a kind of the organism sample and a difference in cutting direction, so that it has been very difficult to perform the cutting, an extension processing after that, and the like under constant conditions. For this reason, a probability of failure in making the sliced piece specimen is high and, notwithstanding the facts that it is an automated apparatus, it has been impossible to continuously operate the apparatus.